


these things take forever

by Stellonia



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Domestic Fluff, F/M, M/M, Papa Holt, Well really more like grandpapa Holt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 07:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14255595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stellonia/pseuds/Stellonia
Summary: “Kevin, this is Lucia Santiago-Peralta.” Kevin must have seemed thoroughly flabbergasted, since he clarified, “Amy and Jacob's child.”“Yes, I remember her,” he said. They had been there for her birth - Raymond insisted on staying in the waiting room through all 11 hours of labor. She featured front and center on the Santiago-Peralta Holiday card, which they displayed tastefully until December 26th, when it was promptly thrown away. And who could forget the weekly Lucia Picz email blast run by Detective Boyle? No, her identity was not the source of the confusion. “And what brings Miss Lucia to our home?





	these things take forever

**Author's Note:**

> title from "first day of my life" by bright eyes.

The sound of John Philip Sousa’s _Semper Fidelis_ filled the home. Kevin should have known that the evening would be rambunctious.

“Hello, Raymond,” he said. He wondered what prompted Raymond to play this “club banger”, as it were. Perhaps he had a particularly productive day at work? Kevin could only hope - his husband was having some issues adjusting to the Deputy Commissioner position, although he would never admit it.

“Hello, Kevin,” Raymond responded. His voice did not seem far away. Kevin reckoned that he in their living room, which is where he headed. “We have a guest.”

“Oh?” That would explain the music, he supposed. Raymond was always an entertainer. 

He wasn’t sure who he expected the mystery guest to be - but he certainly wasn't picturing them as a young toddler, with chubby cheeks and a tiny pair of red overalls.

“Kevin, this is Lucia Santiago-Peralta.” Kevin must have seemed thoroughly flabbergasted, since he clarified, “Amy and Jacob's child.”

“Yes, I remember her,” he said. They had been there for her birth - Raymond insisted on staying in the waiting room through all 11 hours of labor. She featured front and center on the Santiago-Peralta Holiday card, which they displayed tastefully until December 26th, when it was promptly thrown away. And who could forget the weekly _Lucia Picz_ email blast run by Detective Boyle? No, her identity was not the source of the confusion. “And what brings Miss Lucia to our home?”

“A time-sensitive opportunity presented itself in one of Jake's cases. I personally asked him to stay late and work it. Amy doesn't return to town until this evening, and their babysitter was unavailable. So I volunteered to watch her.”

“I see,” Kevin said. “Has she been behaving herself?”

“She has. We played PEEK- _ah_ -boo, I cleaned up one of her… 'uh-ohs’, and then we listened to John Philip Sousa,” he smiled slightly. “She is a fan of his whimsical sensibilities and rebellious spirit.”

Lucia looked at him with big brown eyes and an innocent smile. Flatly, but completely sincere, Kevin said, “she’s a cutie pie.”

“Indeed,” he said. Lucia grabbed his index finger. “Would you look at that, Kevin? She is now holding my finger. With her tiny baby hand. I am… absolutely melting.”

“I am also... overcome with emotion.”

Lucia giggled innocently. “Yes. It _is_ hilarious that such a small human could make us this foolish.”

“Foolish, Raymond?” Kevin asked. 

“Why, yes,” he said. “I just cooed. I am not the kind of person who cooes. It's quite irregular, to say the least.”

“It makes plenty of sense to me,” he said. “It’s no secret that Peralta sees you as a father figure, and that you think of him like a son. That would make this child your granddaughter, if we were to extend the metaphor.”

“Please,” he scoffs. “That is absurd.”

Then he looks back at Lucia, sitting in his lap, still firmly holding his finger. She smiled at him - she had her father's smile - and something stirred within him.

“Oh,” he quietly said. “That is… not absurd.”

Kevin smiled knowingly, then took his cellular telephone out of his pocket. “I'm sure your children would like a picture.”

“You're never going to let me live this down, are you?” Raymond asked. He smoothed down some of Lucia's hair in preparation for the picture.

“I'm afraid not,” Kevin said. “Now, say cheese.”

“Cheese.”

\---

Amy arrived at precisely 9 PM, just as she said she would. 

“Hello sir!” She said. Her volume was 0.5% louder then normal - this indicated she felt anxious, but wanted to hide it. “I'm so sorry for having to trouble you, we appreciate this so much.”

“Nonsense,” he said, making a hand gesture for her to come inside. “It was no trouble at all. We were happy to have her - you have raised a delightful and well behaved child.”

She squealed, but quickly stopped herself from further embarrassment. “That - that means a lot to us. I… enjoyed the picture Kevin sent. A normal amount. That's how much I enjoyed it “

“I'm glad to hear that, Sargeant.” Perhaps he did say 'Sargeant’ to see her reaction - a poorly disguised laugh that made her sound like a supervillain. “Kevin is rocking her asleep, as per binder section 5, sleep, subsection B, no crib. “

She placed a hand on her heart, and started to tear up.

“Sargeant - are you crying?” He asked. She violently shook her head no.

“Of course not!” And yet, despite her protests, tears continued to flow. “I mean, uh - Mommy hormones! I'm crying because of my… Mommy hormones. And there's no way for you to know if that's false so I'll just, uh, go get my baby.”

“You go… do that.”

She ran out their front door, baby in tow, whisper-yelling “thank you!” as to not wake her.

“Raymond?” Kevin asked. “Do you know what..that was?”

“I believe she was… 'shook’ that we took care of her child,” he explained.

“Not unlike someone else I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> hi I love Raymond Jacob Holt and he loves his children


End file.
